[This
pamphlet has been hitherto issued under the title: “An Introduction to the
Study of The Secret Doctrine”.]

[N.B — Quotations in this pamphlet are always from reprints of original
works — not
from revised editions.]

Doubt

The world of today is full of questionings. Fifty, years
ago it was not so; very few people dared to question any
religions belief which had been taught them by their parents
and the priest or minister of the sect into which they had
been born. They were taught that Doubt was one of the most
subtle and dangerous weapons used by Satan to ensnare the
wisest and best, so that if one found himself doubting some
such obvious absurdity as that the wrath of the Good God
could be appeased only by the blood of his Son, he was filled
with consternation and straightway prayed very earnestly
to be delivered from the dreadful sin into which he was falling.[Such
prayers are
frequently “answered”, for human will, auto-suggestion, self-deception and kindred
powers
may produce almost any desired effect on the mind]. But now doubters are to be met with everywhere, and their,
numbers are still increasing. At first it was noticed that
the few who dared to doubt, and even those who openly scoffed
at the most sacred tenets of their sect, did not rapidly
degenerate into depraved and God-forsaken wretches, but on
the contrary, were often quite honest people, and as pleasant
to live with as the most irreproachable believers. It was
also observed that dignitaries of great distinction in their
Church were often as much under the sway of personal ambitions
and temperamental weaknesses as were many scientific materialists
or persons sufficiently careless of clerical disapproval
as to play tennis on Sunday instead of going to church. These
and similar observations very much encouraged the doubters
to doubt still more, and many began to give up praying to
be delivered from that form of sin. But even now many people
are, perhaps without realizing it, afraid to confront some
of
their beliefs with all the reasoning power they possess; yet this is what they must make up their minds to do if they
really wish to clear away the rubbish that obstructs the
paths that lead to truth. Theosophy is not for those who
lack either
moral courage or mental honesty.

Questions

Among the questions for which answers are most insistently
sought, are the following: — What
is the purpose of life on this earth — is there any sense in it all, and, if so, then, whom or
what does it serve, Does self-consciousness survive physical
death, and, if it does, what sorts of lives are being led
by those of our friends who have preceded us into the Great
Beyond into which we, too, must enter before long? Did the
story of our inner lives begin with the birth of the body
we now inhabit ? or, is it
that:

“Our
birth is but a sleep and a forgetting

The soul that rises with us, our Life's star.

Hath had elsewhere its setting

And cometh from afar”.

And
if Wordsworth's intuition was born of Truth, then where
and how did we live before? From what far country have
we come, and shall we ever remember what we have forgotten
? And then the questions with regard to pain and sorrow
for which the Prince Gautama forsook earthly happiness
to discover answers: The cause of sorrow? Its use? and
how to
end it?

The
answers that Gautama found after he had become enlightened
and a Buddha are identical with those of Theosophy. Indeed,
Theosophy is nothing less than a synthesis of the fundamental
teaching that has been given to us by all the great Teachers
and philosophers who have, from time to time, come amongst
us to dispel ignorance and give new impulse to human
thought, for however much the adherents of religions and
sects may
differ and dispute over the claims made for the Gods
and creeds which they have invented, the Teachers whose
names
have been used to designate these religions, have always
proclaimed the same great fundamental truths, and have
never taught anything in opposition to one another. Antagonism
has arisen through misunderstanding and mistranslations
of the scriptures; from accretions that have been deliberately
added or that have crept in; and through a strong
tendency apparent in all ages to try to simplify and
understand spiritual conceptions by dragging them down
to a material level,
and by personifying them, and then to mistake the formal
expression for the truth it was designed to represent.

Theosophy,
however, is able to answer some of the questions above
referred to, more fully and with greater detail than can
be learnt from any of the ancient scriptures, for the reason
that the Guardians of the Secret Doctrine (the source from
which the esoteric teaching of all the great religions
and cults has been derived, and about which more will be
said later on) gave out to the public through their agent,
Mme. H. P. Blavatsky, towards the close of the last century,
more knowledge of the occult sciences than has ever before
been divulged. Not that any question can be completely
answered and finally disposed of, because everything in
the universe is related to every other thing and, as cur
finite minds cannot grasp all the truth of the Universe,
we cannot comprehend the whole truth of any minutest portion
of it; therefore, to us there must always be mysteries
beyond mysteries. It does, however, suggest solutions to
many of the puzzles of daily life; it gives us much information
of incalculable value in our endeavors to live useful lives,
and relieves
our minds of all fears for the future. And this information
is backed up with evidence and logic. It treats the visible
universe and the invisible realms that interpenetrate and
surround it as Onegreatwhole, and embraces in one system all the different branches of
science, philosophy and ethics so that the teaching with
regard to one branch is related to that of every other
branch, and they are all complementary and necessary to
each other. Herein Theosophy vastly differs from modern
science and religious teaching when these are considered
as parts of a single body of knowledge, for not only is
Science often at variance with Religion, but different
departments of both are frequently contradictory to each
other. And yet how obvious it is that the truth with regard
to one thing cannot be contradictory to the truth with
regard to
any other thing.

This
correlation between the different branches and aspects
of the
Theosophical system is a warrant of its unassailable stability,
and of its right to claim the attention and respect of
all unbiased students who are more anxious
to find truth than to gain support for their own pet theories,
convictions
or
prejudices.

“Theosophy”

With
regard to the significance of the word, “Theosophy”, Madame Blavatsky says in “The Key to Theosophy” :

“Theosophy
is Divine Wisdom or Science . . .

The
term is many thousand years old”.

and
further on in the book she states that this

WISDOM
RELIGION was ever one, [The same all over the world and
at all
times — W.B.P] and being the last word of possible human knowledge,
was, therefore, carefully preserved. It preceded by long
ages the Alexandrian Theosophists, reached the modern, and
will survive every other religion and
philosophy”.

And
in answer to the question : “Where and by whom was it preserved?” she
replies:

“Among
Initiates of every country; among profound seekers after
truth — their disciples; and in those parts of the world where such
topics have always been most valued and pursued; in India,
Central Asia, and Persia”.

And
as proof of its esotericism, she states:

“that
every ancient religious, or rather philosophical cult consisted
of an esoteric or secret teaching, and an exoteric (outward
public) worship. Furthermore, it is a well-known fact that
the MYSTERIES of the ancients comprised with every nation
the “Greater” (secret) and “Lesser” (public) MYSTERIES — e.g., in the celebrated
solemnities called the Eleusinia, in Greece”.

Mme.
Blavatsky then goes on to show how the Jews, Brahmins,
Buddhists, and the Pythagoreans, Gnostics and others have,
or had, their secret as well as their public teaching,
and she adds:

“Finally, do we not find the same
even in early Christianity, among the Gnostics, and even
in the teachings of Christ?
Did he not speak to the multitudes in parables which
had a two-fold meaning, and explain his reasons only
to
his disciples? “To you”, he says, “it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven;
but unto them that are without, all these things are done
in parables”. (Mark iv., II) . . . Examples might be brought from every
country to this effect”.

As
to the cause of this secrecy, she says :

“Firstly,
the perversity of average human nature and its selfishness,
always
tending to the gratification of personal desires to the detriment of neighbors and next of kin. Such
people could never be entrusted with Divine secrets. Secondly,
their unreliability to keep the sacred and divine knowledge from desecration. It is the latter that led to
the perversion of the most sublime truths and symbols, and
to the gradual transformation of things spiritual into anthropomorphic,
concrete,
and gross imagery, — in other words, to the dwarfing of the god-idea and to
idolatry”.

Modern
Theosophy, then, includes what was taught in secret to
their pupils by
the initiates of the ancient Mysteries — or, at least, a part of that teaching. The
term “Secret Doctrine” has been used by Mme. Blavatsky especially to denote that
body of occult knowledge which has been guarded by an association
of
adepts and initiates called “The Great Lodge”, whose headquarters are hidden away in a remote part of the
Himalayas quite inaccessible to ordinary travelers. But of
this more will be said later on.

To
return to the above questions: Complete answers can only
be gradually approached by continued study of the whole
system, but it may be stated at once that (as I understand
(he teaching) the purpose of life on this earth, as of
the
whole of the manifested universe, is for the evolution of consciousness; and it serves the One Life of which every individual life
is a part — “a Spark of the
Flame”, or a focal point in the ocean of universal consciousness

Consciousness
and Unity

Theosophy teaches that all life, all
intelligence, all force and all matter have their origin
in The Absolute — the One
Reality of which it is said in the Proem of “The Secret Doctrine” [By H.P.
Blavatsky].

“An
Omnipresent, Eternal, Boundless and Immutable PRINCIPLE
on which all speculation is impossible since it transcends
the power of human conception and could only be dwarfed
by any human expression or similitude. It is beyond the
range and reach of thought — in the words of the “Manduyka, “unthinkable and unspeakable”.

From
this it follows that notwithstanding the irresistible sense
of separateness produced by the working of our minds in
separate forms, we are in reality all bound together in
one unbreakable unity in which our true interests are identical.
This is the basis upon which rests the FACT of the Brotherhood
of man; it is not a mere sentimental aspiration, but a
fact which cannot be ignored with immunity by men in their
dealings with each other, or by nations in their policies
affecting other nations. And in this unity all animals
must be included, for the life animating their forms, though
less advanced in evolution, can not logically be excluded
from the One Source. Therefore, every act of justice or
kindness on the one hand, or of injustice or cruelty on
the other, must inevitably react not only to the benefit
and happiness or to the injury and unhappiness of the doer
in particular, but also
on humanity as a whole.

Consciousness
is all-pervading; not only every animal and plant, but
every particle of matter is animated by it in the way and
degree commensurate to its stage of development; and it
guides its own evolution through an age-long progression
of ever changing forms.

A
distinction, of course, must be made between Consciousness
and Self-consciousness. The latter is fully awakened first
in man. It has been said: “I slept in the mineral; I stirred in the plant; I dreamt
in the animal; I awoke in man”. At the time, in the last century, when the scientific materialism,
which Mme. Blavatsky made such strenuous effort to combat,
was most rampant, Prof.
Tyndall said: “In matter I saw the promise and potency of all forms of life”, but
more recently Sir Win. Crookes replied. “In life I see the promise and potency of
all forms of matter”.

The
God Within

Man may be regarded primarily as an immortal
intelligent being endowed with unlimited capacity for evolving
powers, and extending its range of consciousness. This
is the “real
man”, the “God Within” the Ego, who by
linking itself with an “animal soul” and a physical body in numerous reincarnations gradually,
through countless efforts, struggles, failures, successes
and all the joys and sorrows and lessons of life, evolve
its latent attributes into
potent powers.

It
is only here, on this earth, that man as we know him, can
make progress towards perfection; hence the necessity of
reincarnation. Human consciousness begins at a stage barely
removed from that of the animal; for a long period; his
Higher Self, the Ego, is little more than a sleeping partner,
and his mind is used almost entirely to plan and scheme
to supply his physical needs and to gratify his animal
appetites. The latter are now greatly encouraged and stimulated
by the memory of past pleasure, and by the lure of imagination.
The mind becomes enslaved by Desire; consciousness is centered
in the Lower Self; and the God Within is slighted, forgotten,
and its powers stolen and misused. At length, however,
after many disappointments the man begins to dimly realize
that happiness is not to be found in the mere gratification
of earthly desires; conscience — the still small voice of the God Within — is heeded, and then begins the age-long battle between the
Higher and Lower Self, in which every principle and attribute
of human nature is sooner or later involved, and which
has given rise to innumerable myths, legends, allegories
and symbolic dramas from time immemorial. Is it not absurd
to suppose that this long-drawn combat, in which first
one and then another of the human principles becomes dominant,
could be begun and concluded in one life-time? And if,
as it has been suggested, evolution is continued after
death, then how unfair, how unjust it is that
while one soul is born with a good and strong-character,
with the few lower tendencies to fight against, and, perhaps,
amid surroundings conducive to good thought and action,
another soul has to begin at the very beginning with no
evil lust or desire conquered, but on the contrary with
every enemy to spiritual development either fiercely rampant
or waiting to be aroused in its turn. Surely it must be
more reasonable to suppose that the struggle commences
in every case with the first dawn of aspiration
towards an ideal a little higher than mere personal gratification,
and that it continues through a long series of lives until
the lower self becomes the willing servant of the Higher;
illumination dispels ignorance and a glorious new phase
of spiritual evolution is reached.

“We
distinguish between the simple fact of self-consciousness,
the simple feeling that 'I am I,' and the complex thought
that 'I am Mr. Smith,' or 'Mrs. Brown'. Believing, as
we do, in a series of births for the same Ego, or re-incarnation,
this distinction is the fundamental pivot of the whole
idea. You see, 'Mr. Smith' really means a long series of
daily experiences strung together by the thread of memory,
and forming what Mr. Smith calls 'himself.' But none of
these
'experiences' are really the ‘I’ or the Ego, nor do they give 'Mr. Smith' the feeling that
he is himself, for he forgets the greater part of his daily
experiences, and
they produce the feeling of Egoity in him only while they last. We Theosophists, therefore,
distinguish between this bundle of 'experiences' which we
call the false (because so finite and evanescent) personality, and that element in man to which the feeling of 'I am I,'
is due. It is this 'I am I' which we call the true individuality;
and we say that this 'Ego' or individuality plays, like an
actor, many parts on the stage of life. Let us call every
new life on earth of the same Egoa night on the stage of a theatre. One night the actor, or 'Ego,'
appears as 'Macbeth,' the next as 'Shylock,' the third as
'Romeo,' the fourth as 'Hamlet' or 'King Lear,' and
so on, until he has run through the whole cycle of incarnations.
The Ego begins his life-pilgrimage as a sprite, an 'Ariel,'
or a 'Puck'; he plays the part of
a super, is a soldier, a servant, one of the chorus; rises then
to 'speaking parts,'
plays leading roles, interspersed with insignificant parts, till he finally
retires from
the stage as 'Prospero,' the magician [“The Key to Theosophy”. — H.P.
Blavatsky].

Theosophy
teaches that these arduous earth-lives are not lived closely
one after another without intermission; on the contrary
each is separated from the other by many centuries spent
in the invisible realms by which this earth is interpenetrated
and surrounded. These may be divided into two sets, and
so, too, may the states of consciousness appertaining to
them. One of these .sets is called the Astral Plane, or
Kama-Loka, which means Desire-Place. The other set will
be referred
to later on.

The
Astral Plane

I shall say very little about the Astral
Plane, because to give any fair idea of its important place
in
the scheme of things, its immense variety of inhabitants,
their influence on the affairs of this plane, and many
other matters pertaining to it would involve many difficult
and complicated questions which could not be adequately
treated here. Some reference will have to be made to
it on another page, but for our present purpose it will
suffice
to say that just as the physical body at death is left
to disintegrate on this earth, so the astral body, together
with the lower desires and passions inherent in it, must
be left behind in Kama-Loka before the Ego is free to
pass on to the other set. [N.B. These lower desires, attributes
and impulses are not finally disposed of by being left
behind in Kama-Loka,
for they will be taken up again by the vehicles of the
reincarnating ego on the threshold of rebirth, and will
hold sway over one personality after another until fought
and conquered during earth-life.]

Sojourn
in Kama-Loka differs as to length of time and also as to
the amount of suffering involved, according to the way
in which the life just over has been spent. Thus a very
sensual or passionate man or woman may be held there, earth-bound,
for many years, for the simple reason that a great deal
of vitalizing force has been put into
the lower principles by a life of unrestrained self-indulgence
and the gratification of the lowest desires. But ordinarily
decent people who die natural deaths need linger there
but a few days, and in a state of more or less unconsciousness.
Very good, pure-minded people may remain but a few unconscious
hours.

Devachan

From Kama-Loka the freed Ego, carrying with it the “aroma” — as
has been said — of the last terrestrial life, goes on into the next plane
of
consciousness, which is called by Eastern occultists, Devachan, a. Sanskrit word meaning Divine Place. It has been adopted
by Theosophy because there is no English word by which it
can be conveniently designated. Devachan is not the Heaven
of Christian Theology, nor it the Summerland of Spiritualism.
It is a
subjective state akin to, but very different from the dream-state. The objection has been made that such
a life must consist largely of illusion. And so it does,
but the same objection may be made with equal force regarding
our earth-life, during the whole of which we are deceived
without pause or let, both by mind and senses, and yet we
are perfectly satisfied by a false sense of reality. It is
the same in Devachan where, it is said, life appears to be
far more vivid, real, and satisfying than any single moment
of earth-life. Moreover, it is difficult to see how any life
founded upon the complicated interplay of relationships,
rivalries and rapid changes of this life, could be made even
moderately happy except through some form of forgetfulness
or delusion. [It must be recognized that in seeking for
truth, one should not allow himself to be influenced by what
he thinks ought to be, or what he thinks would be preferable. No objections
to dreams could stop dreaming.] The Mahatma known as K.H.
writes on this subject:

“Of
course, it is a state, one to say, of intenseselfishness during which an Ego
reaps the reward of his unselfishness on earth. He is completely engrossed in the bliss of all
his personal earthly affections, preferences and thoughts,
and gathers in the fruit of his meritorious actions. No pain,
no grief nor even the shadow of a sorrow comes to darken
the bright horizon of his unalloyed
happiness; for it is state of perpetual 'Maya' ”. [ A very fine description of the Devachan State is given
by the Mahatma K. H. with answers and explanations to Mr
Sinnett’s astute questions and objections in “The Mahatma Letters to A.P.
Sinnett”, from which the above quotation has been taken — page 101. Also see “The Key to Theosophy”.]

K.
H. could hardly have meant by “intense selfishness”, that kind of selfishness that grasps at happiness at the expense of others. He means, no doubt, that the bliss of Devachan is founded
upon gratified wishes and aspirations formed by and for
the personal self.

From
this it will follow that the man who has resolutely determined
to devote his life and energies to the service of humanity
will not regard the prospect of spending long periods
amid the evanescent joys of Devachan as a consummation
to be
desired with complacent satisfaction, but he will rather
aspire to the attainment of sufficient strength of purpose
to enable him to live a life of such altruism and self-abnegation
that, having sown no seeds to yield the illusionary blossoms
of which these joys are composed there will be nothing
to keep him from quickly rejoining the ranks of those
who are fighting on earth for the redemption of mankind.
Such
attainments is, as yet, quite impossible for most of
us and, indeed, the rest of Devachan is as necessary for
our
refreshment as is sleep for our physical body. We can,
however, gradually shorten its period by endeavoring
to broaden our outlook on life from the personal and narrow
to the
impersonal and all-embracing.

In
answer to the question: “Do we possess more knowledge than we do in earth-life?” Mme. Blavatsky replies: —

“In
one sense we can acquire more knowledge that is, we can
develop further any faculty that we loved and strove after
during life, provided it is concerned with abstract and
ideal things, such as music, painting, poetry, etc., since
Devachan is merely an idealized and subjective continuation
of earth-life”. [Key to
Theosophy].

It
is important to note that all these after-death states
depend for their length and intensity upon the vital force
or impetus that has been generated by the habits of thought
and sustained desires of any kind with which the personality
of the last earth-life has been occupied. They are the
natural consequences of a man's character and the way he
has directed his energies, and are not meted out to him
by an assessor any more than are the obvious consequences
of the simple acts
of everyday life.

Communication
With the Dead

The teaching with regard to the period between
reincarnations, precludes any possibility of there being
any communication between average people who have died
a natural death, and those who are still on this side of
the portal, except in some cases for a few hours, or, at
most, for a few days, after death. The released Ego after
it has entered the happy state above mentioned, is quite
beyond the disturbing influences of sorrow or the selfish
hankerings and inquisitive importunities of spiritualistic
séances. Victims of accidents, however, remain on the
Astral Plane in a state of dreamy happiness commensurate
with
the purity and goodness of the interrupted life until the
hour comes to which they would have lived but for the accident.
Suicides also have to wait for their hour, but they remain
awake to be tortured by remorse for running away from their
responsibilities, and, if they are debased and sensual,
by longings for the sensations that can only be obtained
through a physical
body. These classes can be got at by mediums,
and very great harm both. to themselves and to all concerned,
is certain to result. Not for nothing has every religion
worthy of the
name decried and warned against
necromancy. [H.P. Blavatsky in “The Key to Theosophy” goes into this matter very fully, and so also does W. Q.
Judge in “The Ocean of Theosophy”.]

The
phenomena of the Séance rooms are not denied, but the question
is: What is it that produces them? Occultism answers: The
worst class of disembodied suicides, or by other astral
entities masquerading as the “dear departed”, by vampires that suck vitality from the medium and the sitters,
by elementals and
elementaries. In “The Theosophical Glossary”, under “Incubus”, one reads:

“An Incubus is
the male Elemental, and Succuba the female, and these are undeniably the spooks of mediaeval
demonology, called forth from the invisible regions by
human passion and lust. They are now called 'Spirit brides'
and 'Spirit husbands, among some benighted Spiritists and
spiritual mediums. But these poetical names do not prevent
them in the least from being that which they are — Ghouls, Vampires and soulless Elementals; formless centres
of Life, devoid
of sense; in short, subjectiveprotoplasms when left alone, but called into a definite being and form
by the creative and diseased imagination of certain mortals.
They were known under every clime as in every age, and the
Hindus can tell more than one terrible tale of the dramas
enacted in the life of young
students and mystics by the Pisachas, their name in India. [See “Theosophical
Glossary”, by H.P. Blavatsky].

It
is easy for many classes of entities of the astral plane
to not only take any form they please, or to animate a
form created by the medium's thought, but also to reflect
the thoughts of the medium or sitters.

To
the question : “ Can we help the dead?” Theosophy not only answers in the negative, but affirms
that they do not need our help. Mine Blavatsky writes:

“ .
. . . We say that the bliss of the Devachanee consists in its complete conviction that it never left the
earth, and that there is no such thing .as death at all;
that the post-mortem spiritual consciousness of the mother will represent to her that she lives surrounded
by her children and all those whom she loved; that no gap,
no link, will be missing to make her disembodied state
the most perfect and absolute
happiness”.

Again
:—

“ We
are with those whom we have lost in material form and far,
far nearer to them now than when they were alive.
And it is not only in the fancy of the Devachanee, as some may imagine, but in reality. For pure divine love
is not merely the blossom of a human heart, but has its
roots in eternity. . . Again we say that love beyond the
grave, illusion though you may call it, has a magic and
divine potency which reacts on the living. A mother's Ego filled with love for the imaginary children it sees near
itself, living a life of happiness, as real to it as when
on earth — that love will always be felt by the children in the flesh”. [Key to
Theosophy].

Under
conditions so described, surely those who have gone before
must be far, indeed, beyond the need of any help that those
left behind could give them. On the contrary, any interference
from sorrowing friends could but spoil their happiness,
for as Mme. Blavatsky writes:

“ And
if the 'Spirits of the dead' are enabled to return and
see all that is going on
on earth, and especially in their homes, what kind of bliss can be in store for
them ?” [Key to Theosophy].

Karma

Closely interlinked with the doctrine of reincarnation
is that of Karma; the Law which ensures that every man
shall reap as he sows. It is a perfectly obvious law in
the physical world, being nothing more or less, than that
every cause must have its effect; it is at once creative,
conservative and destructive; it rewards those who act
wisely and punishes the ignorant or foolish; it teaches
by pleasant and unpleasant experiences, and is the never-failing
protector of those who act in accordance with its laws.
In the realm of ethics, and of thought, Karma acts as constantly
as it does on the physical plane Every thought, desire
and motive must have its appropriate effect. It is Karma
that necessitates our return to this earth in order that
we may experience the effects of causes generated in past
lives, for where the seed was sown the harvest must be
reaped. All ambitions and desires pertaining to the things
of earth must reach their fulfilment on earth;
therefore,
those who dislike
the prospect of returning to earth-life should give up
wishing
for anything that can be found nowhere else. What we seek
we shall find — this year, next year, sometime, or in
some life — there is no “ never”.

It
is this immutable law, which neither prayer nor repentance
can turn a hair's breadth from its natural course, which
makes man his own creator and the creator of his destiny.
His character
is what he has made it by his thoughts and aspirations; his
faculties and capabilities are the results of past efforts
in whatever direction; his opportunities
are those that he has longed to have, and his limitations
often the result of neglecting those opportunities that
he has had.
The present is as we have made it; the future is our own. “ Destiny today is
master; man was master yesterday”.

“ My
brothers! each man's life

The outcome of his former living is;

The bygone wrongs bring forth sorrows and woes

The bygone right breeds bliss. . .

This
is the doctrine of Karma”.

The
Ego Remembers

It has often been objected that, as we do
not remember our past lives, and are not responsible for
the things thought and done in them, therefore it is unjust
that we should now have to suffer for them. It might be
argued that that is squared by the fact that we enjoy the
fruits of the good acts
and thoughts of that forgotten time. But the fact is that
the Ego does remember, and hence comes a quickening of Conscience
as we evolve, for intuitional ideas and innate antipathies
and attractions come from the Inner Self, while the memory
of which we are conscious in daily life, is inherent in
the physical brain. These lives on earth are for the benefit
of the immortal man, not for that of the passing personality.
The tendency of education and religion has been to produce
in the men and women of our time an exaggerated idea of
their own individual importance; and of the need of “ making the most”, for their own advantage, of this one terrestrial life, whether
it be regarded as an opportunity thrust upon every one
for gaining for himself an eternity of bliss, or, in cases
of failure to conform to the prescribed requirements,
an eternity of punishment; or whether as being the only
speck of time in which, perhaps, one will live at all — at best the only one about which anything but the vaguest
theories can be conjectured.

Truly,
every one of us is of importance — but only as a part necessary to complete the Whole; and every
life-time is of importance — but only as one day at school in a long series of days each
one of which is preparatory to those that are to follow,
and which is more or less successful according to the strength
of the efforts that
have been made towards improvement.

Karma,
the Law of Life, governs the rise and fall of nations,
and it holds good for every sort of organized association
of individuals, as surely as it does for every being
capable of choosing — from the meanest man to the highest
Archangel.

The
great thing to realize is that humanity, and humanity alone,
is responsible for the state of the world as it is today.
Any teaching or creed that tends to lessen man's, sense
of responsibility or that allows him to think that he can
shirk his duty to mankind with impunity, can but retard
the evolution of the race and every member
it includes.

When
Humanity, as a whole, shall have at last grasped the fact
that its welfare and happiness can be obtained only by
the unselfish exercise of its own creative powers, an age of universal
contentment may dawn upon the earth — but not
before.

Mankind
Is Helped

This statement, however, does not preclude the
belief that the men of this earth are helped by suggestions,
and guided, as far as they will accept guidance, by Beings
who have attained to wisdom and powers God-like in comparison
to our own. For there is a Human Hierarchy whose representatives
are at all stages of evolution, from man, as we know him,
to the
highest “ Planetary
Spirit”, or Archangel. This great Hierarchy includes all the creative
self-conscious Gods, all of whom [Page 17] began their evolution
of
thought as men on some planet of a more or less remote past. Man is The
Thinker, the vehicle for the One Universal Mind. Those of
this Hierarchy who are the guardians of our terrestrial humanity,
help us by broadcasting ideas in the mental atmosphere, which
may be picked up by our minds and used, or rejected, as we
think fit. But every choice and every effort must be made
by ourselves, and only as we fit ourselves to receive suggestion,
we shall receive it.

To
conclude the subject of Karma, I quote from the “ Voice of the
Silence” : [Translated from “The Golden Precepts”, a very ancient Indian
scripture.]

“ Learn
that no efforts, not the smallest — whether in right or wrong direction — can vanish from the world of causes. E'en wasted smoke remains
not traceless. “ A harsh word uttered in past lives is not destroyed, but
ever comes again.' The pepper plant will not give birth
to roses, nor the sweet jessamine’s silver star to
thorn or thistle turn”.

Periodicity

Another tenet of the Secret Doctrine is: -

“ The
absolute universality of that law of periodicity, of flux
and reflux, ebb and flow, which physical science has observed
and recorded in all departments of nature. An alternation
such as that of Day and Night, Life and Death, Sleeping
and Waking, is a fact so common, so perfectly universal
and without exception, that it is easy to comprehend that
in it we see one of the absolutely fundamental laws of
the universe”. [See Proem of “The Secret Doctrine.”]

There
is a fine chapter on this subject in “ The Ocean of Theosophy”, [ By W. Q.
Judge, page 119] from which I quote :—

“ Reincarnation
being the great law of life and progress, it is interwoven
with that of the cycles and karma. These three work together,
and in practise it is almost impossible to disentangle
reincarnation from cyclic law. Individuals and nations
in definite streams return in regularly recurring periods
to the earth and thus bring back to the globe
the
arts, the civilization, the very persons who once were
on it at work. And as the units in nation and race are
connected together by invisible strong threads, large
bodies of such units moving slowly but surely all together
reunite
at different times and emerge again and again together
into new race and new civilization as the cycles roll
their appointed rounds. Therefore, the souls who made the
most
ancient civilizations will come back and bring the old
civilization with them in idea and essence, which being
added to what others have done for the development of
the human race in its character and knowledge will produce
a newer and higher state of
civilization. This newer and better development will
not be due to books, to records, to arts or mechanics,
because
all those are periodically destroyed so far as physical
evidence goes, but the soul ever retaining in Manas [Mind principle — W.B.P.] the knowledge it once gained and always pushing to
completer development the higher principles and powers,
the essence of progress remains and will as surely come
out as the sun
shines.

This
law of periodicity or of cycles regulates the times at
which great Teachers and philosophers appear upon the earth
to instruct mankind; the greater among them at the beginning
of the greater cycles, and the lesser at the beginning
of the smaller cycles that divide the greater into a series
of shorter periods. At the beginning of the small cycles
ideas are often given out through comparatively inconspicuous
people. Thus, on looking back, it will be found that in
the last quarter of every century, men's thoughts have
been turned into new channels, often leading to revolutionary
conceptions.

This
law also ensures that, as we travel the perplexing paths
of life, ever seeking for happiness, we shall be confronted
at different stages of our spiritual growth with similar
problems in similar circumstances, so that, when through
lack of courage or wisdom, we have chosen a wrong course
and then, through the ensuing results have regretted the
mistake, another opportunity at a later period will occur
when a better decision may be made.

Responsibility
Of Choice

It must not, however, be supposed that the responsibility
which the power of choice and free-will confer upon man
is confined to periodical or especial occasions; on the
contrary, this power is exercised at every hour of every
day, and as we choose in small things, so shall we choose
when the great moments of life arrive.

This
responsibility should not be regarded as a burden merely,
but rather as a most efficient teacher gradually impressing
upon us by personal experience the truth that no mere earthly
satisfaction or acquirement can for long still the inward
craving of man's nature for truth and reality, until at
last he need no longer be
told, for he knows, that the only quest worth following is that of Reality
behind all illusion, Unity behind separating forms. This
is the quest of the Holy Grail. Only the knight, purified
in the conquest of self, will find it.

It
is only by right choosing that we can ever win to full
realization of our immortality for it is in terrestrial
life to which “ he first saw the light”, and in which all his struggles are made and conquests won
that Man, after he has learnt to control his thoughts,
desires and emotions, so that they have become ready servants
to his higher Will, shall regain the knowledge, never again
to be
forgotten, that he is his Higher Deathless Self.

It
was by choosing aright that the Masters of Wisdom gained
the strength that enabled them to forego their well-earned
right to liberation from the necessity of
re-birth — to turn back from the very entrance to life in the super
sensuous worlds of bliss in order to help their fellow-men
still struggling amid the sorrows and difficulties of earth-life.
And this is the path that links us to them and by which
we can, if we so will, follow in their footsteps.

The
Constitution of Man and Matter

Theosophy has a great deal
to say with regard to the constitution of man and its relations
to that of the Universe. Physical Science has lately accepted
the theory that “ Matter
is a mode of motion”, and that different rates of motion, i.e., of atomic vibration,
determine the qualities of different kinds and states of
matter. Thus, if the vibratory rate of the atoms of a piece
of cold iron be raised to a certain velocity by heat, the
solid mass becomes a glowing liquid, and if the rate be
still further increased, the liquid is transformed into
vapor. This is all in perfect accord with the occult teaching
of the Eastern
adepts. This “ Ancient Wisdom”, however, goes further and declares that the visible universe
is penetrated by many grades of substance of vastly higher
rates of vibration than any matter cognizable through our
physical senses; that these different grades of matter form
worlds, peopled by beings whose bodies or
vehicles of consciousness — because they are formed of the same grade of matter as the
world to which they belong — are as well adapted to contact the objects of their world
as our physical senses are to feel, hear, see, taste and
smell the objects of our world; and we say that the physical
state or plane of matter is the densest or lowest of all
the planes of which we know anything; that it is interpenetrated
and surrounded by the next densest plane known among occultists
as the “ Astral Plane”, which is likewise interpenetrated and .surrounded by matter
in a still less dense, more subtle, and more tenuous state
called the “ Manasic” or “ Mental Plane”, and so it is with each succeeding plane. Every atom in the
universe, and the universe itself, thus exist on several
planes of substance, hence our earth may be regarded as the
densest central globe of many concentric globes of increasing
circumference and decreasing density.

Moreover,
man is likewise composed of different bodies or vehicles
of consciousness, each one attuned to vibrate in harmony
with the grade of substance to which it is related. While
awake in a physical body, however, he can, as a rule. be
conscious only through his physical brain, in which vibration
must be set up before sensation or thought can be recorded
by the mind. Thus the brain acts not only as an instrument,
but also as a barrier, which effectively prevents the sights
and sounds of other planes from intruding
upon this one.

Thus,
the universe and all it contains — our bodies, our sensations and
mental pictures — are built up of vibrations, and our awareness of any object,
feeling or thought depends upon the ability of one or other
of our vehicles to respond to the vibratory rate of such
object, feeling, or thought.

Symbolism

Symbolism is yet another subject which, studied in connection
with theosophical teaching, is found to be of the greatest
importance and of fascinating interest. Such signs as the
circle, the various derivatives of the
cross — that
adopted by the Christian churches, the Egyptian tau (a plain
T), the ansated cross; the Swastika (the Devil's
Mark) ; [The frequent occurrence of the Swastika in many
places before the time of Christ had, in common with other
forms of the cross, to be accounted for by the Christian
clergy of the Middle Ages; it was, therefore, assigned to
the Devil, in whom belief was as unquestionably held as was
belief in God. This attitude was but logical for a Creator
of all that is good, necessitates a creator of all that is
evil — a Tempter and a Spoiler. The day when His Satanic Majesty
became a joke was a bad one for dogmatic religion] the two
triangles interlaced so as to form a six-pointed star, or
Solomon's seal — such signs afford proof by their great antiquity and by
their wide distribution over the face of the globe that the
same
arcane truths have been known from the most remote ages and
in all parts of the world. “ Identical glyphs, numbers and esoteric symbols are found
in Egypt. Peru, Mexico, Easter Island, India, Chaldea and
Central Asia”. [The Secret Doctrine]. They relate to the emergence of
the Cosmos from the Absolute; the development of qualities
and
of forms from undifferentiated substance; the involution
and evolution of spirit and matter; the descent of spiritual
consciousness into bodies of flesh; the triumph of soul above
the cross of matter; the union of the higher with the lower
self, and many other fundamental doctrines given to the early
races of men by their divine teachers, who were themselves
products of a previous humanity.

And
of equal importance is the symbolism of natural objects.
It reveals many hidden meanings of the ancient scriptures
of the world and of the myths and allegories of folklore.
Our own Bible is rescued by it from the contempt into which
it was thrown by such caustic and unanswerable critics
as Thomas
Paine [See “The Age of Reason,” by Thomas Paine] and placed among the most profoundly interesting
books ever compiled.

Thus,
if we know that a serpent signifies Wisdom or a Sage; that
a tree stands for the Thinking Principle, or the Mind;
and that the birds come and flit in and out of its foliage
and fly off to other trees are Ideas; a mountain, a high
plane of consciousness; water, among many other meanings,
Material Activity, and wine, Spiritual Activity; cattle
and the beasts that perish, Animal Instincts and Desires,
etc., we shall find new meanings for many old
tales.

Eve
will be exonerated from having brought down God's curse
upon mankind for,
as his “ better half” — the intuitional side of man's nature, she persuaded Adam,
the animal man, to partake of the fruit of the tree recommended her by theSerpent. This antagonized Nature (the god, Pan) and Man, after he
had exchanged innocence and ignorance for the power to know
and to choose, began at once to break the laws of Nature
and to suffer from so doing. But his suffering is not in
vain, for with the acquisition of responsibility and the
power to reason, and with the development of will and creative
power, he is now a self-conscious being with possibilities
before him of limitless evolution.

To
take other examples, The Christos, the Christ-spirit of
universal love and compassion, is born a weak babe in a stable (among the cattle). At the marriagefeast when Reason, or intellect, is united to Intuition, or spirituality,
Christos turns water into wine. It is His first miracle. And when one goes up into a mountain to pray he transfers his consciousness to the higher planes
of his being and
communes with “ his Father in Heaven”, — his Higher Self.

And
the statement that Man was given dominion over the fish
in the sea, the birds, the cattle, and every creeping thing,
means that by the exercise of his Will he can and ought
to rule the desires and propensities symbolically represented
by these creatures. It certainly does not mean that their
God has given His Christian worshippers the right to tyrannize
over and torture those animals over whom, by his superior
cunning, he has gained mastery, for they are
as truly vehicles
and centers of the One Life, as are the “ Lords of Creation”, though the Life manifesting through them is on a different
plane of development.

Do
those who support and condone the merciless acts of vivisectors
or animal-trainers, imagine that justice extends only as
far down the scale of evolution as our own race, and that
an easy way of escape from the pains and penalties incurred
by disregard of physical law can be found by violation of moral law ; or that knowledge or amusement that has been obtained
by heartless misuse of power can be enjoyed with impunity?
Ignorance of the working of the One Law will not save individuals
or the race from reaping the harvest they are daily sowing.
Indeed, we are reaping terribly today!

Other
Subjects

Theosophy also treats of the early history of
man from his first appearance on this globe: of the formation
of the worlds from cosmic substance, and, indeed, touches
upon all the sciences of the past and present that have
ever occupied the restless thoughts of men.

Christianity

To the question, often asked, is Theosophy antagonistic
to Christianity, I should say that it certainly is not
antagonistic to the teaching of the
New Testament [See “Open
Letter from ‘Lucifer’ to the Archbishop of
Canterbury” — To be obtained from ] nor to that of any of the great World-Teachers,
but with regard to any special creed or dogma the student
must decide for himself. The chief value of the study of
Theosophy is that it leads logically to the conclusion that
to “ Love thy neighbor as
thyself” is more than merely a pious duty, for it proves that “ thy neighbor” is “ thyself”, and that until the significance of that fact be recognized
and intelligently acted upon, no satisfactory solution of
the world's difficulties will be found, no true knowledge
gained nor lasting happiness achieved.

The
Masters of Wisdom

The reader has now been given some idea
of the range of subjects which Theosophy coordinates into
a rational system, and it only remains to present
a few facts with regard to “ The
Masters of Wisdom” and their agent, Madame Blavatsky.

As
to the former, a great deal of evidence might be brought
forward in proof of their existence and of the existence
of the great body of knowledge of which they are the guardians,
but I do not propose to produce it here, because theosophy
does not depend upon any authority for its acceptance,
and because any readers of this introduction who may have
been sufficiently attracted by anything herein contained
to wish to enquire further, will find all the evidence
they need in books already published, [See — “The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett”, “The Occult
World” (A. P Sinnett), “Echoes from the Orient.” (Judge)] while those whose interest or intuition has not
been aroused, would not be greatly impressed by any arguments,
however conclusively they might be presented. To sympathetic
enquirers, however, the following information may be of interest,
because it
relates not only to “ The Masters”, but also to the doctrine itself, to an ideal of which They
are practical exponents and to a goal that may be reached
by any aspirant sufficiently determined to succeed and willing
to make the necessary sacrifices with a motive that shall
place his efforts at the service of Humanity for which these
Masters live.

If
we accept the theory of man's spiritual and intellectual
evolution, and then consider the faculties he is known
to possess for obtaining and assimilating knowledge, and
also the power of his creative thought, as exemplified
by numerous recent inventions, we shall have to concede
that, unless his development stops short somewhere, man
is at the entrance stage of a creative hierarchy of intelligent
beings to whose evolutionary ascent no limit can be imagined.
We contend that the stopping short idea is unreasonable
and that there is good reason to suppose that the evolutionary
urge will continue indefinitely after all that this earth
can teach has been mastered. And further, that as no rung
of the evolutionary ladder can be missed out, there must
come a moment to every successful climber when the great
choice, previously referred to, must be made, and the decision
taken that will either free him from further contact with
the earth and its affairs, or bind him to the
service of humanity on this globe through countless ages,
until its end. And if
he has evolved spiritually as well as intellectually, so
that love of humanity, compassion and sympathy have become
a dominant part of his very nature, then it is but reasonable
to admit that the latter course may be taken by him. The
Masters of Wisdom, or Mahatmas, are men who have so chosen.
[Whilst no dogma is propounded thereon, it is, on the other
hand no outcome of sentimental devotion, but its antithesis,
to postulate a spiritual evolution that is progressive,
instead of the entirely illogical assumption, which, ignoring
all process of “becoming,” holds
that man, immersed in the interests of earth-life, can
be at death instantly translated into an immortal being
of spiritual purity].

That
they should form such an organization to carry out their
plans as the “ Great
Lodge,” already referred to, is what might be expected. Their methods,
of course, would naturally differ in many respects very widely
from those of any ordinary association. For instance, their
complete command of such powers as clairvoyance, clair-audience,
telepathy, etc., would make it perfectly easy for them to
communicate with each other at long distances without using
any of our contrivances. One way in which they aid humanity
is by accepting as their pupils aspirants who, by the unselfishness
and self-abnegation of their lives, and by the purity of
motive with which they have devoted such powers and knowledge
as they may have possessed to altruistic work, have proved
their fitness to receive the occult training and instruction
that will at length enable them to work with some of the
hidden laws and forces of nature. Before this can be done,
however, the aspirant must have proved his willingness to
conform to many very severe requirements with regard to his
mode of life.

The
Ancient Knowledge

It may be asked how this body of knowledge,
said to be complete as far as the lower planes at least
are concerned, which is guarded
by this mysterious “ Lodge”
was first acquired, especially as it has been stated that
the
world has never been without it. The answer is that there
have been humanities on other planets that may have long
since passed away, and that men who had gained knowledge
and power in those humanities reincarnated among
the early races of this earth in order to instruct and rule
them. These
were the “ Divine Kings” and patriarchs, echoes of whose fame are still
to be found in the ancient records and .scriptures, myths
and legends
of the world. They taught and guided the men who, with their
constant aid, built up those ancient civilizations, traces
of which are still to he found in many widely separated parts
of the earth — in central Africa, in central America, Asia, southern Europe
and elsewhere [Had not some knowledge of the arts and crafts
been brought to this earth from pre-existing planets, it
is doubtful whether mankind could ever have begun to rise
from a state of savagery]. Since those early days, this race
of “ Mighty Men of Old” has retired from the sight of men, but
has not deserted
them. “ Knowing neither rest nor Nirvana, spurning heaven, and remaining
constantly on Earth for the salvation of mankind”, [See Abridgment
of the “Secret Doctrine” (Katherine Hillard p 409) these Adepts and Initiates live
secluded from the world, but in touch with its needs.

H.P.
Blavatsky and Her Work

We come now to Mme. Blavatsky, to
whom, in the belief of many students, the world is far
more deeply indebted than most people have any idea of.
The publication of her first notable work, “ Isis
Unveiled”, immediately aroused fierce opposition in many quarters where
the forcefulness of her argument and consequent danger
to the prestige of both eastern and western established
religious sects, and to financial interests and prerogatives
connected with them, was clearly recognized. And as the
Society which she founded became active, and knowledge
of the newly stated doctrine began to spread, its opponents
were driven to use the only effective weapons available
to them, namely, misrepresentation of the teaching, and
unscrupulous vilification of
its principal exponent.

Lies
and slander proved to be so efficacious that, to this day,
Mme. Blavatsky is often supposed to have been nothing more
than a clever trickster and charlatan, her writings to
be unworthy of the attention of any sane man or woman,
and her adherents and admirers to be but credulous dupes
or fanatics.

Needless to say, very few, if any,
of the people who hold these opinions have ever read one
single word of her own
books ; indeed, one of the most serious effects of these misrepresentations
and slanders has been that they have kept the general public
from reading and judging for themselves. [Her work can
only be fairly judged by what she herself has written.
A great deal has appeared since her death under the name
of Theosophy which is calculated to give a wrong impression
as to what
she taught.]

For
this reason I shall now draw attention to a few facts and
considerations which may help to remove the contempt and
ignorance which have cast such a dark shadow over Mme.
Blavatsky and her work.

Helena
Petrovna Blavatsky was born in the south of Russia in 1831.
Her father was an officer in the Imperial army and her
mother the daughter of Princess Dolgorouki. She received
the education that was usual for young ladies of her class
and time, that is to say little beyond music, modern languages,
deportment, etc. This fact has an important bearing on
our argument. The fascinating story of her extraordinary
childhood must be passed over, and the reader referred
to
other books. [See “Incidents in the Life of Madame Blavatsky” (A.P Sinnett)
also “Reminiscences of H.P. Blavatsky,” and “The Secret Doctrine,” by Countess
Wachmeister].

As
a young woman, and for many years, she traveled extensively,
often into countries almost untrodden by Europeans, for
she had a great, and for those days, a very unusual contempt
for the conventions of social life. At the age of 22 she
first tried, without success, to reach the “ Forbidden Land” of Tibet, and a few years later dwelt for some time in Little
Tibet, or Ladakh.

She
fought, dressed as a soldier, in the war for Italian unity,
under Garibaldi, against the papal forces; was wounded,
and picked up for dead. Soon after recovering from her
wound she made another attempt to penetrate to the fastnesses
of Tibet, and this time was successful. It was during the
subsequent years spent there that she obtained the training
and knowledge that fitted her to
undertake her Mission.

Her
two great works, “ Isis Unveiled”, and “ The Secret Doctrine”, were published respectively in 1875 and 1888. [These works,
which occupy several large volumes, were followed in 1889
(shortly before her death) by “The Voice of the
Silence,” a translation of Eastern Treatises containing unique esoteric
teaching
especially with regard to the “Great Choice.” referred to on pages 19 and 24. She also wrote a great many
other books and publications].

It
is the circumstances in which these were written, their
extraordinary erudition and the fact that they contain
many assertions related to almost every branch of modern
science that anticipate the findings of recent research (in some instances by many years) that afford irrefutable
evidence in black and white that Mme. Blavatsky had access
to some reliable source of profound knowledge. Mrs. Alice
Leighton Cleather, in a recently published book [“H.P. Blavatsky, Her Life and
Work for Humanity.”] devotes a chapter to “ The Writing of 'The Secret Doctrine',” in which the author most convincingly sets forth evidence
to show that H.P.B.'s knowledge surpassed that of expert
scientists in their own special fields of
research.

I
must content myself with but two short quotations: With
regard to erudition, Dr.
J. D. Buck, author of “ Mystic Masonry”, is quoted by Mrs. Cleather as saying:

“ Everyone
who has ever read her larger works, even with curious and
literary interest, has remarked the almost innumerable
references to many books in many languages and written
in almost every age. Profound, indeed, would be the knowledge
and priceless the opportunity to verify all these references.
. . . known to have been made apparently from memory, for
it is well attested that she had a small number of volumes
of any sort within her reach, and for months together never
left the house in which she was living. Fortunately I have
one of the largest libraries of occult and rare books to
be found in America, and as my studies progressed I kept
buying books to which she referred in 'Isis Unveiled,' in the
'Secret Doctrine,' and in her almost numberless fugitive essays, for the
purpose of verifying her statements as well as for further
research. Through the clues thus afforded by her writings I was almost unconsciously gathering a mass of testimony
in support of the old Wisdom-Religion”

And
with regard to her scientific knowledge: Dr. Carter Blake,
one of the secretaries of the British Association in
1863, says: —

“ On
ordinary lines it is strange that an old, sickly woman,
not consulting a library and having no books of her own
of consequence, should possess the unusual knowledge
that Madame Blavatsky undoubtedly did. Indeed, it is incomprehensible,
unless she were of an extraordinary mental capacity,
and
had spent her whole life in study. On the contrary, from
many sources we gain undoubted evidence that Madame Blavatsky's
education had not even been carried as far as that of
a High School student of the present day. But it is a fact
that she knew more than I did on my own particular lines
of Anthropology,
etc.”

Then
follow instances of this superior knowledge.

Just
as the evidences of erudition are overwhelming, so are
the proofs that H.P. B, forestalled many of the discoveries
of science which, since her death, have been hailed as
triumphs of modern research, and also that she was the
first to expose the fallacies in many theories held as
beyond question in her time, but which have since been
discarded
or seriously doubted by scientists themselves. Any learned
person who cares to read the “ Secret Doctrine”, cannot fail to be
convinced of this statement.

I
must confine myself to two or three instances :

Mr.
William Kingsland, in a notice of the founding of the “ Blavatsky
Association”, appearing in the magazine, “ Dawn”, writes : — [See May
1924, issue of “Dawn” — official organ of the T.S. Loyalty League, published at
Sydney,
N.S.W. Australia]

“ I
have never forgotten her determined attitude as to the
disintegration of physical matter. Science held that
matter was indestructible, and that you could not break
up a physical
atom; but she held that a physical atom was only a very
low grade of a Universal Substance. Her theory of the
atomic nature of electricity has [Page 30] since been confirmed
very fully, for the electrons of modern science are nothing
but her atoms of electricity”.

The
next instance is taken from a book published as far back
as 1908, in which the author, Dr. A. Marques, submits comparisons
which prove many forestallments in nine of the principal
branches of Science:

“ Sir
Norman Lockyer and Prof. J. J. Thompson have started
the scientific hypothesis of Ions and Electrons . . . moreover
these electrons are not huddled up together, and if the
distances between them were calculated, they would seem
proportionately to their size, to be as widely separated
as the planets are in
the solar system”.

(N.H.—This
was a new theory about 1908, though now, of course, a
commonplace.)

About
ten years previously H. P. B. had written:

“ A
wooden or a stone block is motionless and impenetrable
to all intents and
purposes, nevertheless and defacto, its particles are in ceaseless eternal vibration . . .
and yet the spatial distance between those particles, in
their
vibrationary motion is — considered from another plane of being and
perception — as great as that which separates snow-flakes or drops of
rain. But to
physical science this will be an absurdity”. [“Scientific Corroborations of
Theosophy”, by Dr. A. Marques.]

And
as such it was, indeed, received!

Mme.
Blavatsky always vigorously denied that man has evolved
from an ape or any ape-like animal; she declared that the “ missing link” would never be
found — (its discovery was almost daily expected at that time) — and drew special attention to the great difference between
the brain-cavities of the highest ape and of the earliest
specimens of man, and the very small difference between that
of the earliest man and the most advanced races of today,
and now Dr. C. H. Hill-Tout, in August of this year (1924),
before the Anthropology section of the British Association
at Toronto, is quoted as saying: —

“ The
conclusion is forced upon us, contrary to what has generally
been held, that the anthropoids, and not man, have departed
most from the ancestral type in
respect of skull characteristics”.

That
is to say, apes have departed greatly from the common stock,
while man has not — bearing
out the “ Secret Doctrine” contention
that the apes have descended from a race of men who mated
with an animal (now extinct) millions of years
ago.

The
reader is now in a position to answer the following question: “ Did Mme. Blavatsky obtain the knowledge and help that enabled
her to write the “ Secret
Doctrine” from her “ Teachers” — the Adepts of the “ Great Lodge” — as she states, or is it more reasonable to suppose that she was a consistent
liar for many years and a miraculous sort of person who gained
her knowledge from some other still more mysterious source
that has never been revealed?

But
however this question may be answered, it must not be supposed
that the
author of the “ Secret Doctrine” makes any appeal to the authority of her “ Teachers” for the final acceptation of her assertions and postulates;
on the contrary, in her book she submits them solely to the
arbitrament of evidence,
reason and logic.

A
Warning!

A general outline of Theosophy has now been presented
to the reader, but no attempt has been made to adduce all
the evidence that might be marshaled in support of the
postulates and tenets hinted at, nor have any of the subjects
herein contained been treated exhaustively or conclusively.
I wish to draw particular attention to this, because many
people, after reading one or two pamphlets or hearing a
lecture supposed to be theosophical, seem to imagine that
they are in a position to judge of the merits of the whole
theosophical outlook, whereas the most that such a very
slight acquaintance with Theosophy could possibly do for
any enquirer would be to help him to determine whether
or not the study of Theosophy or Occultism would be likely
to interest him.

Conclusion

And now in conclusion let me re-state those tenets of Theosophy
that seem to me to be of the greatest
importance.

That
it is the thirst for material life, acting through Karma,
the Law of Cause and Effect, that impels to re-birth among
material things; that all the faculties, aptitudes and
innate knowledge with which a man is born and which may
be brought out by education, have been earned by him in
past lives, for a man is not made, but has become, and
is becoming, by his own exertions, and that even any help
he may obtain from others, or give to others, is neither
more nor less than what he has earned the right to give
or receive.

When
the pupil has made himself ready to receive, the Master
will be found — butnot before.

That
man lives by Law, the immutability of which (acting as
many laws) assures that every effort made on any plane
in any direction shall have its full effect.

Therefore,
that man is a creative being — a beneficent or maleficent force in Nature, responsible,
according to his degree, for the progress or retardation
of the welfare and evolution of Mankind; and that it renders
him particularly his own creator, his own judge, dispensing
to himself weal or woe.

That
the Brotherhood of Man is a FACT. It is an expression of
Eternal Law which is, in itself, an expression of the One
Life. As the Law cannot be broken, it follows that when
a man opposes it with his pigmy strength he will suffer
to the exact extent of the force he exerts in opposition.
It therefore behooves every one to study the Law and to
recognize the responsibilities it entails, for neither
prayer nor repentance can save him from the natural results
of his ignorance.

That
instead of looking upward and worshiping the “ God on High”, hoping to obtain favors from Him in return for services
rendered, the only true God should be sought for down among
men in the mysterious depths of human nature. And in serving
humanity, that “ God within”, which dwells in unity with the collective soul
of Humanity, should he more considered than the evanescent
personalities that are temporarily ensouled by Him, or
rather, It.

That
all forms, whether objects perceived by the senses or mental
pictures, are but units in the unthinkably vast hosts of
things that go to make up the Universe, which is “ a part” of the One Reality manifesting as the Many. In other
words: All
things and all beings are “ God”.

That
the sense of separateness, that illusionary conviction
that “ I-am-I” and “ I-am-not-You”, is “ The Great Heresy”, which must be gradually transcended
by the expansion of our sympathies until they include,
at
long last, all beings within the consciousness of our own
being; that only by this gradual expansion can we gain
access through Universal Mind to the Light of Truth that
shines behind all the shadows among which we grope, mistaking
them for realities, for, to use the words of H. P. Blavatsky,
“ he who would profit by the Universal Mind has to reach
it through the wholeof humanity without distinction of race, complexion, religion, or social
status. It is altruism, not ego-ism, even in its most legal
and noble conception, that can lead the unit to merge its
little Self in the Universal
Selves.[“ Occultism
versus The Occult Arts”, by H. P. Blavatsky. To be obtained in pamphlet form from
the “ H.P.B. Library”, Toronto, Ontario. Canada].